Fat Loss

One of the biggest reasons as to why it’s a fantastic way to lose weight is because it’s fun. There are tons of people who give up on getting fit and dropping the unwanted pounds simply because the usual routines are too boring.

If running on a treadmill for an hour a day sounds dull, swimming may be your answer.

It allows you to challenge yourself and set new goals to stay on track. You can do laps and time them with the aim of getting better and better every time. Often times, being able to see the progress is motivating and will strengthen your mind to keep on improving.

The further you push, the better the results will be.

It can be extremely exhaustive – which is great! Every single one of your muscles is activated and having to operate; therefore, the aerobic activity is high, as the heart is pumping blood around everywhere.

Although, swimming will only be useful for weight loss if your diet is in check. There are a number of studies that have been carried out, which have shown some very interesting results. Swimming was found to escalate appetite due to the cold water!

If you can’t control your diet as well as you’d like, swimming may not be the best activity.

Building Muscles

As we have alluded to earlier, pretty much, every single one of the muscles are involved during swimming. There’s a degree of resistance on the body to stay afloat and swim (minus the pressure on the joints and bones that weights incur).

Does this mean it can help to build muscle?

The stress that the muscles are subjected to is not enough to stimulate any kind of muscle growth.

Swimming can be incredibly effective at uncovering the muscles lying beneath. As people begin to see more definition, they think they’re building more muscle, whereas in reality, they’re just decreasing fat and exposing muscle.

Despite the fact that you may feel a burn whilst swimming, it doesn’t indicate muscle growth.

If you look at a professional swimmer, they often look muscular and extremely lean. It proves it’s an incredible tool for people wanting to burn fat and get fitter. Although, don’t expect to be adding pounds of muscle; you’ll have to hit the weights for that!